Paris FW18 Concluded With Some Insane Sneakers on the Runway
Over the weekend, the last of the Paris FW18 shows wrapped up in the French capital.
As the street style sets and runway shows continue to remind us, sneakers are taking over fashion week. During the men's FW18 shows, Virgil Abloh debuted his new all-white Air Jordan 1, Y-3 showed its techy 4D Runner with Futurecraft technology, and Versace even debuted a 2Chainz collaboration.
For the women's shows, our expectations were expectedly high, and in fact the last two days probably marked the biggest weekend for sneakers so far in 2018. Check out some sneaker highlights from OFF-WHITE, Undercover x Nike, Maison Margiela, Balenciaga and more.
Virgil Abloh x Nike Air VaporMax
Now that Abloh's first VaporMax release is practically ancient history, the designer gave us our first official look at all-black and all-white versions during his FW18 women's show. While release dates for these are unconfirmed, rumors in the industry are indicating that two accompanying Prestos in all-black and all-white are also set to drop.
UNDERCOVER x Nike React Element 87
Sadie Sink, who played Max in season two of Stranger Things, unveiled the collaborative Nike React Element 87 at the Undercover Fall 2018 Paris show. A new form factor, the midsole is created from Nike Running’s new React foam, but designed and tuned for the streets. Expected to release this Fall, stay tuned for more info. While Undercover founder Jun Takahashi has already been collaborating with Nike for years under the GYAKUSOU umbrella, many saw this new React Element 87 sneaker as a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Balenciaga FW18 Sneakers
While little is known about the technical, hiking-inspired sneakers that debuted on the FW18 Balenciaga runway, our first look yesterday showed the sneaker in a handful of colorways, featuring bright color blocking in the vein of the performance offerings from brands like Mizuno, ASICS or Saucony.
COMME des GARÇONS x Nike Cortez Platform
COMME des GARÇONS and Nike have been collaborating on sneakers for literally decades. In recent memory, COMME des GARÇONS has used the runway to give us first glimpses at collaborative sneakers like the Air Max 180, Air VaporMax, and others. Now we are privy to a platform take on the Cortez, which might not be an official collaboration, rather just customized pairs that were used for the COMME show.
Maison Margiela FW18 Sneakers
Maison Margiela also showed some new, chunk-tastic sneakers on the runway. What could be a subtle homage to 1980s adidas basketball sneakers, the new kicks are reminiscent of the classic adidas Forum sneaker, with clever cutouts in the upper to simulate three stripe branding. Aligning with Margiela's known penchant for deconstruction, the shoes also feature a strap across the forefoot, much like the Forum. Much like the "shoe-in-a-shoe" aesthetic of Raf Simons designs like the adidas Trail Response, this new Margiela style features a mammoth sole unit.
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